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A great recipe courtesy of Jay Guerrero’s Modern Gastropub from a class I took at The Pantry. It’s a bit involved, but so delicious.

Brandade is a classic bistro dish made with salt cod and potatoes, garlic and olive oil, whipped together until it makes a comforting garlicky dip that gets spread onto crusty bread. In this iteration, the brandade is turned into a thick batter and deep fried, accompanied by a lightly curried dipping sauce. Vadouvan, also known as “french curry”, originally developed in an area of India that attracted a high concentration of French colonials. Alongside the usual suspects of cumin, fenugreek, turmeric and coriander, it has the added depth of cooked shallots, onion and garlic. Voudouvan can be purchased from World Spice in Pike Place Market or at Big John’s PFI in SoDo.

Yields: about 20 beignets

Ingredients:

1/4 cup cake flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

3 tablespoons cornstarch

2 Medium russet potatoes (9 oz)

8 oz. salt cod, soaked overnight in several changes of water

3 cloves garlic

2 cups buttermilk

2 eggs, separated

4 cup neutral high heat oil for frying

Flaky salt for finishing

Vadouvan remoulade (see recipe below)

Prep:

In a large bowl wisk the cake flour, baking powder, and cornstarch together and set aside

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place potatoes directly on the rack and bake for 40 min, or until tender. Let them cool until just cool enough to handle – you want to mix the brandade when everything is still warm so it combines completely. Push the potatoes through a ricer or food mill and cover to keep warm while you ready the salt cod.

After 30 min of baking the potatoes start cooking the cod. In a medium sauce pan, combine the cod, garlic and buttermilk. Over medium heat, bring to a simmer and let cook until the garlic is soft and the salt cod is just cooked through so it flakes with a fork. The buttermilk will separate during cooking, this is normal – if some curds stick to the fish don’t try to remove. Drain the cod and garlic, discard the buttermilk. Crush up the softened garlic and flake the fish (remove any small bones you find) and add to the potatoes. Add the egg yolks and dry mixture and gently stir to combine. Try to keep larger chunks of fish for texture.

In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Folk them into the potato and cod mixture until well combined. The batter should be fairly homogeneous.

Heat oil over medium-high heat to 350 degrees. Using two spoons form little footballs of batter and gently drop into the oil fry for 45-60 seconds until crispy and golden on the outside and hot on the inside. Fry in batches so as not to crowd them or let the temperature of the oil drop below 300 degrees. Drain on a paper towel lined sheet. You can keep the finished beignets warm in a low oven.

My wife’s side of the family enjoys a spiral cut ham for their Christmas dinner. I love a good Christmas ham, because like a Thanksgiving turkey, it’s the gift that keeps on giving. After I’ve stuffed myself with two days of ham sandwiches and meaningless mid week college bowl games my palate is ready for something new. This recipe is a great change up from most of the traditional holiday fare and makes great use of the ham bone and excess ham trimmings.

I will also throw in a not so-humble brag that this past year I apple-wood smoked our ham in our Big Green Egg. It brought this recipe to the next level!

Ingredients

1 lb dried black beans (or 4 cans 14 oz cans)

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 medium green bell pepper, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 bay leaf

1 ham bone or ham hock

1/2 cup olive oil

2 teaspoons salt

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

1/3 cup distilled white or apple cider vinegar

Cooked rice for serving (optional)

Sour cream (optional garnish)

Chopped raw onion (optional garnish)

Chopped red pepper (optional garnish)

Preparation

Rinse canned beans and place in a heavy pot or dutch oven (If you are using dried beans, the night before rinse with cold water and pick out an rocks or broken beans. Cover in a heavy pot or dutch oven with enough cold water to cover the beans and soak over night. Drain and return to the pot the next morning )

Simmer until beans are creamy, not watery 4-5 hours. Stir occasionally so you don’t burn onto the bottom of your pot. Check after 2 hours, if dry, add another cup of water.You want to cook the beans down so about half of them break apart and create a smooth base. The final consistency should be velvety and thick and the soup should coat the back of your spoon.

15 minutes before serving, stir in the vinegar and simmer uncovered. Pull the bay leaf and ham bone out of the pot. The meat should fall off the bone easily with the touch of the spoon.

This is a two day prep and a bit time consuming for prep, but if you are looking for a creative knock-out dish for your next Superbowl party. This one is worth it. I learned this one from a Modern Gastro pub cooking class at The Pantry. Recipe courtesy of Jay Guerrero.

Ingredients

Wings

4 lbs. chicken wings

1 Tablespoon kosher salt

1.5 teaspoon sugar

2 bay leaves, crushed

3 quarts canola oil

For Sauce

1 Tablespoon coriander seed

1.5 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

2 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon cyenne

2 tablespoons onion powder

2 tablespoons canola or peanut oil

1 tablespoon grated ginger

1/2 cup tomato puree

4 tablespoon unsalted butter

1/2 cup half and half

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Lime Dust

3 limes, juiced and peels zested then dried for 2 days

2 cups greek yogurt

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 clove garlic, grated on a microplane

1 teaspoon kosher salt

Prepartion

Wings (Can be done up to 3 days ahead of time)

Combine salt, sugar, and bay leaf and toss with wings. Place uncovered on a baking sheet lined with a rack and refrigerate overnight. The next day rinse the cure off and dry the wings with paper towels

Heat oil and the wings in a large heavy pot like a dutch oven until oil is 220-250 degrees. Cook for 20 min holding the temp constant, stirring occasionally.

Drain on a baking sheet lined with a rack. Cool for an hour or refrigerate up to 3 days.

Sauce (Can be made 1 week ahead of time)

Over medium heat, toast the whole spices in a dry pan until fragrant. let cool and grind in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle. Heat a medium saucepan over medium heat with 2 tablespoons of oil, add the ginger, frying for about 45 seconds. Turn heat to medium low and add the ground spices for 10-15 seconds. Add tomato puree and butter and allow butter to melt. Wisk in the half and half. Add salt as needed (if refrigerating warm the sauce on medium low heat before tossing on the wings)

Place the sauce in large bowl for tossing wings. Heat oil to 400 degrees and add 1/3 of wings to the oil. Gently agitate as they cook to stay close to 400. They should be browned and crispy after about 10 minutes.

Remove and transfer to the bowl with the sauce and gently toss to coat.

When I first started dating my now wife, I was planning dinner and asked if she liked brussel sprouts. She said she didn’t like them to which I replied that I bet this recipe could change her mind. Now a days, when I see brussel sprouts in the grocery bags, I know which recipe to turn to.

Ingredients:

1 lb. brussel sprouts

1 tsp. salt

2 Tbsp. EVOO

1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

5 cloves minced garlic

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Prep:

trim stems, pluck dead leaves and halve brussel sprouts

Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil in a large sauce pan

Boil sprouts with salt in water for 4-5 minutes (so they are just under done)

Winter holiday weekends in our house often include fresh dungeness crab when it’s in season. My mother always worries we won’t have enough so we inevitably end up with an extra crab or two. It’s quite the pleasant headache, because nobody wants to waste such wonderful crab, but day old crab is a tough sell. Enter these Crabcakes!

In a large mixing bowl, combine half of crabmeat with mayonnaise, panko, egg, mustard, Worcestershire, Tabasco, and paprika. Season with salt and pepper and stir until thoroughly combined.

Gently fold in remaining half of crabmeat until just combined; try not to break apart the lumps of meat any more than necessary as you stir. Form into patties and arrange on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

In a large cast iron or nonstick skillet, heat oil (and/or butter) over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add patties and cook, rotating and flipping occasionally for even browning, until browned and crispy on both sides, about 10 minutes. Lower heat at any point to prevent burning, and add more oil or butter as needed if pan goes dry.

I got a cast iron skillet from my sister-in-law for Christmas this year and was just happened to have a bunch of brussel sprout I was planning on roasting up for dinner. Now that I have small kids, my old stand by recipe which has red pepper flakes was less of an option so I found this one. The brussel sprouts are nicely browned on the bottom and tender without the bitterness. I was worried that the garlic would be overpowering, but the roasting added a mellow nutty flavor. Delicious!

Ingredients

1pint brussels sprouts (about a pound)

4 to 6tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, to coat bottom of pan

5cloves garlic, minced

Salt and pepper to taste

1tablespoon balsamic vinegar

optional: grated parmesan cheese

Preparation

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Trim bottom of brussels sprouts, and slice each in half top to bottom. Heat oil in cast-iron pan over medium-high heat until it shimmers; put sprouts cut side down in one layer in pan. Put in garlic, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Cook, undisturbed, until sprouts begin to brown on bottom, and transfer to oven. Roast, shaking pan every 5 minutes, until sprouts are quite brown and tender, about 15 minutes.

Taste, and add more salt and pepper if necessary. Stir in balsamic vinegar, and serve hot or warm.

If you like sprinkle on parmesan cheese to add a little salty cheesy finish